Just Jessi

I say this very carefully, as I am not accustomed to speaking ill of one of my colleagues. Every graduate student in a Psychology program is looking for something to distinguish themselves when applying for research opportunities. It makes sense that he would try and focus on a much publicized and unusual fandom as yours. What you need to understand is that there is lack of clinical focused study in his CV that would make me want to validate his research, and that is where I see him as untested. The reason we have peer reviews at that level is as a check on our work. Grad-student and post-grad work is done with peer input and supervision. Going to speak on behavioral concepts without being established in the field is ... not professional. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that his selection of a Graduate Program raises a few flags for me. People place a great amount of stock on what we say. Please do not listen to any mental health expert without knowing their credentials. We are experts, but not gods and goddesses. That was me holding my tongue.

Criminologists are not the only detractors. Plenty of behavioralists also have a bone to pick with both Bandura's methodology, and conclusions. Speaking of applying observational learning in crime, a poignant case in South Florida comes to mind. A child named Lionel Tate was accused of first degree murder of a girl half his age. His attorney used observational learning as a defense due to his enjoyment of wrestling. That case has quite a few interesting oddities, such as the prosecution breaking the time-honored Adversarial System by assisting with the conviction appeal. Someone is itching to pop on here and make a point about how sometimes violence witnessed at a young age can actually become a catalyst for wanting to avoid it as an adult. I'll beat him to the punch by saying that is also a slight flaw in the Bobo experiment. I am going to kill two birds with one stone. Imagine you are a ten year old child growing up in a stable environment, have no mental disorders, and have no general health concerns. You are presented a picture with a series of blocks in a 5 x 5 pattern of squares. All of the squares are red, save for one lone blue square. The human mind is naturally primed to detect and process stimuli it recognizes as unique and different. Of course, this is just the bonus content of a system that is really meant to tell us something really simple -- OUCH I'VE BEEN BIT! RUN OR EAT IT! You are correct. We have plenty of media that teaches us villainy is always bad and must be punished. The red blocks are everywhere. What My Little Pony may actually achieve is be that small blue dot in the crowd. Contrast is noticed. While this isn't going to change opinions outright, a few kids will dwell in the mind a bit longer if reflected on. A good case study for me would be Jem and the Holograms. The Misfits were the antagonists, but there was one among them that had a slight redemption. That little moment stands out to me, even decades later. For all we know this show will one day lay a seed that will give someone a moment of restraint on handing out punishment, even if they can't identify what it was that gave them that thought. I'm pretty sure that Hasbro won't mind them taking credit for going soft on someone. quote name='Silvestra Spooner' timestamp='1465802742' post='4560418'] But children also need to learn that there are some people who can't be reformed or are too far gone to have anything done to help them. It's unrealistic to teach children otherwise. As far as the comment about kids needing to learn that people can't be reformed, my opinion depends on why you think a kid would need to learn that. If you mean that kids need to learn a measure of suspicion to protect them, done and done. This is naturally observed and hardcoded in us. Unless of course your parents let you cry yourself to sleep at a month old because they were tired. In that case you already learned it, you just won't be able to understand when you are eight why you don't trust people. I won't argue that the adage, 'fool me twice' isn't a good one to learn. I would just prefer people have as many tools in their belt in other to tackle everything that life throws at them. Pony is just one of those nifty tools for kids (and possibly adults).

I go and check on this guy who friended me, and I found this on his latest status update. @@Simon, I haven't delved into the replies to this skillful thesis, but we are in general agreement. I am a fervent supporter of observational learning as part of a child's social instruction. You may be familiar with Albert Bandura and his Bobo doll experiment. I hope so because I would love to hear your opinion. You crafted a strong defense for the show's tendency to take a restorative position with characters that have fallen from grace. You are more familiar with the show than I am. Do you think that moral lessons could have a lasting impact on children that watch the show? I am not sure if my reputation proceeded me, but yours proceeded you! I can certainly say that this topic just validated what I have been told.